


Project Psynergy

by Delfeir



Category: Ougon no Taiyou | Golden Sun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-02-10
Updated: 2010-02-10
Packaged: 2017-10-07 04:12:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delfeir/pseuds/Delfeir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A complete rewrite and reimagining of the series from the ground up. Imagine a Weyard that was flung twenty minutes into the future of a contemporary world, where modern technology abounds endlessly. Following a failed uprising by Prox many decades ago, the northern empire has diminished considerably and Lemuria is the strongest power in the known world. In the middle of this uneasy peace, one person from within the Lemurian Empire happens upon an interesting secret that could reawaken abilities lost to time, and as such appeals to Prox and offers them a second chance...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Project Psynergy

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings. For the record, the full extent of what has been written of this story can also be accessed over on Fanfiction.net, under the name JakeDelfeir. I've added to and edited the story over the years it's been in development, and this version of the prologue was current as of about April 2009. In the meantime, new chapters tend to come out increasingly slowly, about one every four months on average. As much as I love to encourage people to be invested in this story over a long period, I do give the warning... it's not the main focus of my writing and largely a hobby that I stopped years ago but refused to let completely die. If you do want to read it in the incomplete state, feel free, just be wary.
> 
> Without further ado, then, here's Project Psynergy.

**PROJECT PSYNERGY**

** Prologue **

Somewhere far south of the Lemurian Empire, a medium-sized metal ship moved through the icy waters of the southern ocean. The ship was of the standard, sleek design of the Lemurian navy, painted with a black and red crest on the prow. It was a ship specifically designed for reconnaissance and research missions, and as such it was unarmed. Along the starboard side were two men, conversing into the morning wind.

"I honestly don't see the reason why we're coming down here," Alex said coldly to the historian of the expedition – a Tolbi-born man named Kraden. "I don't like leading expeditions when there's no visible purpose to them. Tundaria has been dead for a couple of centuries now – do they honestly think we're going to find anything interesting that we haven't already grown sick of for decades now?"

"Patience, my young friend," the older man said, adjusting the glasses that were resting on the end of his nose and offering a sympathetic smile. "There is always a wealth of information available from ancient civilizations... even ones like Tundaria. You forget, we're not looking for any technology – there isn't much concealed within lost civilisations that compares to the Net these days."

The Net was a giant link between all the computer systems in the world. It allowed everyone in Weyard to connect to all places in the world, rapidly speeding up worldwide communications in a way which no-one had ever dreamed possible. It was now an integral part of life in Weyard... but the development of this unparraleled wonder had also lead to the outbreak of the most devastating war in the known history of the world. The   
Proxian War.

"We're here," Kraden continued, "to see if we can find any archaeological remains and determine what wiped out the Tundarians. That's all. You know very well that they just disappeared in the giant blizzard more than a century ago. Not a trace was left of them, except for the occasional rumor of a tower appearing in clear days or some such story. So we're going to find that trace."

Alex sighed and leant against the boat's railing. He involuntarily shivered – it had grown steadily colder as they had gone further south. Even though his whole body was wrapped in heavy blue garments that matched the colour of his shoulder length hair, he could still feel the morning chill in the air. "I know that. But really, what's the point?"

"I personally find the whole concept fascinating," Kraden said, looking out over the water and straightening his gray robes. "It's always a joy to be learning something new, to be discovering something that the rest of the world doesn't know about or forgot ages ago."

"This coming from the mouth of a bookworm who is always holed up in the Lemurian library," Alex commented with a sly smirk on his face. "Constantly reading up about this artifact or that ancient culture."

"Very funny," Kraden replied. "I have my hobbies and you have yours. But... to tell the truth, I don't know why the government is placing such high priority on this expedition. I'm sure there'd be something more worthy of our time, and yet this was what we were assigned to do. Tasks of no intrinsic value are not normally given such importance, not when everyone is still treating to get ahead of each other."

Alex gestured with a flick of his head to the stern of the boat. "Would it have anything to do with him, just quietly?"

'Him' referred to a man that stood quietly at the rear of the metal ship, watching the engines churn the water up and leave a wide wake behind them for a considerable distance. He was not one of the regular people assigned to Alex's exploration group, and he had only been brought along at the direct request of the Lemurian Senators as an assistant. His long blue hair - the trait of all Lemurians - was mostly covered by a cloak that was fastened to a headband – a very unusual item of clothing, but one that he seemed to wear well. Standard Lemurian garb in shades of blue clothed his muscular form.

He hadn't explained himself and his reasons for joining them, nor had he spoken too often to the other members of the expedition about anything. But they knew that his name was Piers.

"I don't know," Kraden replied to his comrade in a low voice. "I haven't been able to glean much from him. Don't get me wrong – he's a friendly person when he chooses to speak. But he refuses to say anything about why the Senators demanded his presence. According to him, he's just a mercenary."

Alex snorted. "Mercenary, my foot. If that was true, then I really doubt the Senators would order us to take him so forcefully, especially on a mission of this nature."

"Chief!" a voice said from above them. Alex turned and glanced towards the centre of the boat. Another man – this one from Madra – was waving to him.

"What is it?" Alex called.

"We can see something on the other side of the boat. It's a little too foggy to make out any details, but we think its Tundaria."

"Or it's a glacier like the other dozen times," Kraden muttered under his breath.

Alex chuckled slightly at the historian's comment. "I hear that." He cleared his throat and replied in a louder voice. "Understood – I'll be around in a moment." The other man nodded and spun on his heel, heading into the deck again. Alex sighed. He hoped it was actually something worthwhile this time – the fog in this part of the world had lead to all the recent sightings being nothing more than ice and rock. He glanced towards the stern again, where Piers continued to watch, oblivious to the comments that had just been passed.

"Hey you!" Alex called out. "Piers!" The 'mercenary' turned around and looked questioningly at the expedition leader. "We just had another sighting, so you might want to come along. Just in case it's for real this time."

Piers nodded. "I understand." He stretched momentarily before casually walking around the stern to the port side of the boat. Alex beckoned for Kraden to follow before moving off. The older man trailed behind at a short distance.

The two higher-ranking members of the expedition followed Piers' path and pressed up against the port-side railing. Two other crew members were there, peering into the foggy morning air with telescopes.

"Ah, Alex," one of them said, taking his eye from the telescope rim. "About 300 degrees from the prow of the boat, you can see some darker coloration in the air. It's bigger than the last sightings – we think it might be Tundaria."

"Keep looking then," Alex ordered. "We shouldn't be too far away – if that isn't it, we'll probably see it in the distance anyway when the fog dissipates."

"Yes sir," the man replied before returning his attention to the instrument in his hand.

"I hope this is it," Kraden said with a shiver. "I'm getting old – I won't be able to take these deep-sea expeditions for too much longer."

Alex smiled and placed a friendly hand on his companion's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure you have plenty of years ahead of you yet, my friend."

Minutes passed, but no more details presented themselves. Piers continued to watch silently, almost unmoving. Alex was almost tempted to poke his arm and see if he reacted somehow – he barely seemed alive. Kraden yawned.

Then the Lemurian mercenary gripped the rail tightly and leaned forward. His eyes narrowed.

"I see land!" he declared. "Look at the sea and slowly raise your eyes. You'll see something solid just below the level of fog – looks like a beachhead of some form."

Alex was of a mind not to pay attention to this extra baggage – he had been annoyed ever since the Senate had commanded the man's presence. But he decided to humor him and followed his instructions. A moment later, his eyes locked onto a sandy white shore, almost iced over and practically invisible amidst the fog.

"He's right!" Alex declared. "I see it too!" He held out a hand and was quickly given a telescope by one of the spotters, which he fixated on the spot. "It's definitely a beach. I think we can bring the ship close enough to land there." Immediately he turned and walked into the depths of the ship. "Helmsman! Turn 60 degrees to port and decrease speed to two-thirds! We've seen land, and I don't want to run into it, understood?"

"Yes sir!" the helmsman replied. With deft movements he rotated the tiller and pointed the ship in the right direction.

"Let's hope it's what we were looking for," Alex said. "I don't want to land on the wrong island."

"There aren't many other islands of reasonable size around here," said Piers, who had followed him inside the ship. "Tundaria is the only recorded one as far back as any history goes back."

Alex kept his gaze on the man for a few moments, taking him in as if only having just seen him for the first time in his life. "And how would you know that?"

The mercenary shrugged. "I keep myself in the know."

"Oh, well that explains everything," Alex muttered under his breath, shaking his head a moment before turning to his men. "All crew members are to prepare for the landing. We have a job to do, remember? Let's get over to that rock!"

\---

Nearly an hour later, a dozen men of the expedition had gone ashore and prepared the necessary supplies. Kraden had indeed identified it as Tundaria once they had gotten close enough to clear the fog, based on the records he'd read regarding the landmass' size and proximity to other parts of the world. For some reason, this confirmation made Alex even more skeptical of the 'mercenary' Piers... he was very curious suddenly as to why he acted completely different from other sell-swords that he had met. Following the Proxian War, there were quite a few of them, yet so many were uncouth louts just out to make a quick dollar by cracking skulls.

But for now, it didn't matter. What did matter was finding a relic or something to keep Kraden happy on the way home and satisfy the Senators that they had done their part and confirmed that the ancient land of Tundaria was still there. At least, that was how Alex saw it. In all honesty, he was beginning to consider the expedition a joke. Seriously, what was the point of it? Who cared if the Tundarians had disappeared – it might have been worthwhile once, but now technology had advanced beyond the point of what any past Southern Empire had attained centuries ago. Was it really necessary?

Pulling himself from these thoughts, Alex ordered the group to start moving. Their destination was the fabled 'Tundaria Tower' that supposedly appeared on the horizon during clear days – if it really did exist, then they just had to have a look inside, scout out anything of value in the name of Lemuria, and then return home as soon as possible.

"I really am too old for this," Kraden said after about fifteen minutes of walking.

"Maybe you're due for retirement," Alex suggested. "After all, you've been working for Tolbi and then Lemuria for pretty much your whole life. Maybe it's about time you took a break for yourself and spent what remains in peace and quiet."

"I don't know if I could, Alex, I really don't," the old man replied. "There's so much more to learn, so many more mysteries about Weyard that would haunt me in the afterlife if I didn't discover them. I don't know if I'd be content being bundled up in some small estate in the heart of Lemuria, just waiting out my days."

"Suit yourself," Alex answered. "I'm just thinking of your health, is all."

"I appreciate it. But I'll use it while I still have it."

The march across the cold tundra continued uneventfully for the next few hours. It was already beginning to grow dark – daylight didn't last long this far south. Alex wanted to be under cover and prepared when the night set in – even a small-sized blizzard under the cover of darkness could easily be enough to drop the whole exploration team into chaos and potentially cost lives.

Still, it didn't seem too hopeful so far. Alex was considering stopping the group for a short break to discuss their plans for the rest of the day when Piers tapped his shoulder and pointed to the northwest. Alex followed his finger and gasped in surprise.

"So the rumors were true then," he murmured.

Piers nodded. "That's the famous Tundaria Tower we've been hearing about. Seems we've just confirmed it."

Alex took in the sight for a few moments. It was peculiarly pretty – the tower was a dark brown-red colour that for some reason reminded him of a breaking dawn. Set on a good-sized incline above the sea and portrayed against the slowly darkening blue sky, it created a quiet and peaceful scene in stark contrast to the fields of ice, snow, and rock that lay beneath it.

Momentarily, he pulled himself out of his trance and addressed the expedition members, pointing out the sight to them before spurring them on, urging them to reach it before the sun went down.

"Interesting architecture," Kraden murmured as they began the approach towards it. "It shows a few similarities to places on the Indra and Osenia continents, and yet there's an element in it which I cannot say I've seen before..."

"You can study it better once we get there," Alex suggested. "Right now, I'm more worried about being caught by a storm in the dark, and I doubt you can really see all the details from here anyway."

"Perhaps you're right," Kraden said reluctantly.

It took them nearly two hours to climb the slope up to the tower, and the daylight slowly dwindled down to a faint light on the horizon. During that time, the tower slowly grew in their vision until it was reaching high into the sky. It was far taller than Alex had anticipated – he counted at least fifteen levels at a cursory glance, and there were probably more. The colour was a richer red and brown than it had seemed in the distance. A wide, door-less entryway faced out onto the hill which they had just climbed, almost as if greeting the newcomers into its halls.

The expedition moved inside the tower through the open entrance, stopping when they reached a central antechamber that lead into the rest of the building. The men quickly took up spots to rest along the outer wall of the empty room, and a few began unpacking their supplies and setting up for the night's activities. Alex restrained himself from giving orders and let them have their rest for now – they had been moving more or less consistently for the whole day, and they were all beginning to tire. They'd earnt a break. Instead of joining them, he remained by the open entrance and looked outside in time to see the sun creep behind the horizon. Darkness engulfed the Tower, and lanterns were lit quickly to fight it off.

Kraden was already hard at work, analyzing everything he could within the antechamber, be it the composition of the pillars, the size and shape of the rooms, or the markings on the walls. It brought a slight smile to Alex's face to witness – the older man was supposed to be a historian and an archivist as opposed to an investigator, but he was probably more inquisitive and knowledgeable than the rest of the group combined. He looked over the assembled men, knowing that despite their skills and dependability, none of them shared Kraden's true passion for this undertaking.

Then he stopped smiling. Something was wrong...

"Where's Piers?" Alex demanded suddenly, glancing around the collected group a second time. No-one answered him... the mercenary was nowhere to be found. "Kraden, where is Piers?"

The historian stopped and looked up at the blue-haired man. "I haven't seen him for a while, actually. I think he was looking around over there." He gestured absently at a pathway that seemed to lead further into the tower, before focusing his attention back on the structure.

Alex cursed. "I didn't trust that man from the beginning, and I trust him even less now... stay here, all of you, I'm going to look for him."

With that, the leader turned and moved deeper into the Tower, grabbing the first lantern he could.

\---

Piers crouched down in front of the large apparatus in front of him. It was made of a coppery substance, and was about his size. It was also buried into the floor, and no effort of his could move it. That was no good. Instead of trying, he resumed searching the rest of the room, trying to find what he had been sent here for.

There was a table covered with various mechanical parts scattered across its surface. Beneath the mismatched metal objects were several scattered sheets of paper. Piers gently picked up the metal items and moved them aside, retrieving as much paper as he could. Then he flicked through them quickly. He wasn't too sure just how relevant they were – the script was faded and very hard to make out. But he imagined that they were important – according to common knowledge, the Tundarians didn't write much down, except their plans and their scientific records. Regardless of the contents, they were valuable for many reasons... and had to be kept out of the wrong hands.

The Lemurian mercenary had to get them out of here before 'he' came. If he found them, then they'd all be in trouble. The Senators may not have known much about his real purpose, but King Hydros most certainly did, which was why Piers had been dispatched to stop it from coming about.  
He searched the room for more papers, but found none. Instead of continuing his search, Piers stuffed the bundle of documents that he'd already found into a carefully prepared pocket in his garments, then made one last check to make sure he found everything.

That was his mistake.

Silently, the other man crept into the room and gripped thc closest copper item tightly. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, he slid up beside Piers and slammed the object into the base of his skull.

Piers cried out and fell forward onto the cold stone floor. Pain filled his head, and he gasped for breath. He could taste blood... the blow had been incredible. Before he could get up or scurry away, the newcomer's booted foot slammed into his ribs, knocking the air from his lungs. The pain was almost agonizing – Piers felt that at least one rib had cracked from the impact. The boot then placed itself on his back somewhat forcefully, pinning him in place.

Alex shook his head and sighed, staring down at his victim. "Why Piers, what brings you here? You know how I don't like people in my office without permission."

Piers struggled to form words, but he was too winded to speak. Finally, they slipped out. "Traitor... selling information... Prox..."

Alex scowled. "I should have guessed as much. You're not a common mercenary – you're working for King Hydros himself, aren't you?" He hissed. "No matter. You may try to stop me, or hide things from me, but you won't be able to. Nor will you be able to stop the Proxians. Never think that you can for a moment, because I know all too well that we will get away with it. What did you hope to accomplish on your own, in my expedition? You can't hide what I seek." He stepped down harder, eliciting a cry from Piers.

"I won't... let you..."

"Too late," Alex muttered before he brought his foot back and slammed it forward. The toes connected with Piers' temple, and everything went dark.


End file.
